Chapter 596: A Dedication to All of You

Huh? When did she take that out?

The moment Yeo Min unfurled a folding fan and hid her face behind it, the audience forgot where they were. The pristine, white fan, featuring an ink wash landscape, revealed itself with a grace much like its master’s.

A princess is dancing...

Sama Hyeon’s heart ached with disappointment.

She took a light step, gliding as though the ice beneath her were smooth glass. Spinning around once, she swept her fan low beneath her bent knees.

Her sleeves billowed in the white wind coiling around her. Sunlight caught the swirling ice crystals trailing the fan, shimmering off them like fish scales on water.

From the placement of her feet on the ice to the delicate turns of her wrists and the way her gaze dipped ever so slightly, Yeo Min exercised perfect control over every inch of her body.

Hyonwon Kang jumped as she slapped him with all her strength.

“Woah...!”

“How could anyone achieve such remarkable mastery over their body at such a young age?”

Even the most renowned murim masters couldn’t help but admire her, and not simply because her movements were beautiful or mystical. Yeo Min was expressing her martial arts through dance.

Of course, from a purely martial arts perspective, she was still rough around the edges. Yet, the dance she performed hinted at her immense potential.

“...We may be looking at the next greatest ice arts master,” the Heavenly Martial Principal marveled.

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry. I got carried away in my excitement!”

Coming from a man who judged martial arts more coldly and honestly than anyone alive, this praise startled everyone. Nonetheless, everyone nodded in agreement.

Unfortunately, not everyone had the luxury of admiring Yeo Min’s artistry. For the prodigies inside the New Moon White Ice Dance’s domain, each and every one of her movements evoked a sense of doom, like a glacial dance of death.

“Snap out of it!” Ok Jin of the Heavenly Martial Academy roared.

The momentarily entranced prodigies snapped out of their stupor. They were, after all, prodigies chosen to represent an entire discipline at the Heavenly Martial Festival. Even though the White Ice Divine Art froze their bodies, they circulated their inner qi at once to warm themselves.

“Haaap!” the White Tiger runner shouted, swinging his sword.

Namgung Su shook his head in disdain. The ones who are seeing this have disappointed him.

Yeo Min raised her arm and swung her fan naturally, as if parrying were merely the next step in her scripted dance.

CLANG! CRACKLE...

While the folding fan looked like a work of art, it was actually a masterpiece crafted by Wiji Yeol from Frost Iron. An ordinary sword would never scratch it.

“L-Let go!” the White Tiger runner shouted in panic when he realized his blade was stuck fast to the fan by ice.

“Why didn’t you start running first?

Yeo Min shifted her weight and leaned backward. He followed suit, clinging desperately to his weapon. The two of them twirled through the student area several times, like partners in a waltz.

“S-Stop...!”

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry. I got carried away in my excitement!”

Yeo Min pressed her palm gently to his chest...and then unleashed the White Ice Divine Palm.

The boy stumbled backward and landed flat on his backside.

Namgung Su shook his head in disdain. The ones who are seeing this have disappointed him.

SWOOSH!

She took another step forward. The Black Tortoise runner, who had cloaked himself in sorcery, took one look at her and fled as fast as his legs could carry him.

Left alone, Ok Jin glared at Yeo Min, his eyes wide with shock.

Suddenly, Yeo Min recalled the time Baek Suryong and Hyonwon Kang first came to see her at the Golden Dragon Inn where she danced for a living.

“Why do you work as a dancer? Do you enjoy it?”

“It pays well.”

Back then, she had answered impassively, because it was a lie.

He took a deep breath, surprised at himself for blurting out the truth so calmly.

Yeo Min loved to dance. As far back as she could remember, she had danced for her mother. In return, her mother would smile and caress her little girl’s head lovingly.

“Do you like dancing that much, my daughter?”

“Yes! I want to be a dancer when I grow up!”

Those were nothing more than the careless words of a naive child, yet her mother was so happy that she hugged her tightly and patted her on the back.

“You’re so lovely, my daughter. Yes. Do whatever you want to your heart’s content. You’re different from me, so you can become anything...”

Even after her mother passed away and life became suffocating and cruel, Yeo Min would sometimes dance alone under the moonlight.

Even after her mother passed away and life became suffocating and cruel, Yeo Min would sometimes dance alone under the moonlight.

One day, by pure chance, the Golden Dragon Inn offered her a job as a dancer. Honestly, working there wasn’t so bad. She even considered dropping out of the Azure Dragon Academy to become a professional dancer.

“There’s nothing wrong with being materialistic. If gold is what you desire, then the answer is simple. I’ll pay you.”

“...What?”

“I don’t know how much you make working as a dancer, but I’ll pay you more to go back to school. However, I have one condition. Win the Movement Arts Competition in this year’s Heavenly Martial Festival.”

“Are you really a teacher? Is it okay to lure students with money like this?”

“Yeo Min, although I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with money, I know how desperate and pitiful a person can become without it.”

What would have happened to me if I didn’t accept Baek Suryong’s offer that day? If I hadn’t been swayed by the conviction in his eyes?

For the prodigies inside the New Moon White Ice Dance’s domain, each and every one of her movements evoked a sense of doom, like a glacial dance of death.

Noticing her distraction, Ok Jin swung his sword, screaming, “How dare you!”

What exactly he meant by that was anyone’s guess, but the audience gasped at the sheer dynamism of his movements. He flipped freely through the air, a dragon at play among the clouds.

All the display did, however, was make Yeo Min’s New Moon White Ice Dance shine even brighter.

“Girl, where did you learn the White Ice Divine Art?”

Yeo Min remembered the Second Apostle’s piercing, cold eyes. The day she watched the cataclysmic battle between the Fire King and the Blood Cult apostle from up close, she realized the apostle had learned the same martial art as her.

“Why didn’t you start running first?

“The Ice Palace does not know the New Moon White Ice Dance. Moreover, the version you performed was...”

...Was different from mine.